Protection for pump bearings



M. E LAYNE ET AL.

PROTECTION FOR PUMP BEARINGS Jan. 3, 1928.

Filed June 22. 1926 fr 5 Z 1 m M! l O 2 5 0 1 1 5 4 M W 5 w t & 0 w A A 1 w /r? 5 w r 1 n flzywozzs Mama 5. LAY/v5 S MuEL N LL 7% ing members 1n Patented Jane, 1928.

Minnow; LAYNE, or Los AivGELns, Ann SAMUELN. HALL,

CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS TO LAYNE'c BOWLER conrone'llolv, OEPLOs ANGnLns, cnrirronivm, A CORPORATION or. CALIFORNIA. I a

; PROTECTION non rut Ir Brahmas.

- Application filed June 22,1926. Srialil'o'. 117,675. i fl,"

This invention relates to supporting bear ings of a character suitable for use in pumping equipment employed .for the transfer of liquids in which injurious substances are carried; Rotary pumps of theimpeller type, in-their presentadvancedstage ofdeve op- .ment, afiord a highly efficient 'means for transferring liquidsi'n which abrasive materials areycarriedf Although in this type of pump the wearing parts are of very simple form and the difliculties encountered due to V abrasive materials, carried in the pumped liquids "arenot so pronounced as found in 7 other types of pumps, the bearings of these rotary or centrifugal pumps are, in their present form, still subject to the detrimental influences of substances carried into the space between thebearing surfaces by what shall be hereinafter termed localized circuits, which result from the differences in pressure encountered at theopposite ends of the bearthis type of pump.

Each mpeller section, or stage, of a rotary pump receives the transferred liquid at one pressure and delivers'thisliquid ata higher pressure to the nextflimpeller section or to' the discharge outlet of the pump therefore,

' it is recognized thatthe action in the pump isnot in the form of a gradual increase in V support the the pressure applied to drive the liquid, but isr'ather in the form of a series of consecutive steps through whichthe water pressure is raised by the successive impeller sections. Owing to the fact that the bearings which impeller shaftf are situated between the consecutive impellers, it follows, when the pump is in operation, that the liquid pressure existent at the two ends of each'bearing vary in accordance with the inlet pressures and discharge pressures of each 7 respective impeller section. The

marked difference in pressure at the two ends of the bearingresults in a return flow or circulation of liquid through the bearing and the'corisequent conducting into the bearing of Whatever material may be carried in suspension or solution in the liquid being pumped.

An extensive use to which pumps of this type are applied, is the lifting of water from wells. Sand carried in the well water is conducted into the bearings in the manner bushing forming the bearing to such an PATENT rm oFso T -riesi nENA, I

extentthatthe bushing ceases to perform the ffunctions'of a bearing,'with;the ultimate result that the operating efficiency or the vpump is impaired to such an extent that the pump must be dismantledandt-he bearings" replaced; In rotary pumps of the impeller type, the principal wear is confined toithe bearings. By reducingthls wear to a mini-:

mum, the effective life of such pumps may be extended to an almost indefiniteperiodf v It is an object ofthe invention to provide a rotary pump having shaft supporting bear--' ings of a form "adapted to exclude from the wearing surfaces ofth'e bearing, those. localized circuits or currents of the liquid being pumped which'are characteristic of rotary;- pumps asfherelnbefore mentioned, thus elimi-- nating the: rapid wearing away of the'fbearingstructure due to the abrasive action of the sand, fi'ne particles of quartz, or-thelike,

which may be carrie'd in-the'liquid being lso an object of the inventioni tof pumped.

It is a provide a new form of bearing structure for pumps of the character described, which in addition to other valuable features will serve to improveand simplifythe manufacture of rotary pumps in ways, as follows First: Th mv parts and providesforfacility and economy in replacement of these parts Second: The invention provides forthev pellers, being subjected to intense centrifugal ention enables the localiza- I tron: of wear to relatively small andsimplej;

at least three additional;

stresses, must necessarily be made from materials having maximum'tensile strength and minimum tendency toward v crystallization, whereas ;the casing; and the bearing parts must each be constructed. of metals'particularly suitablefor each separate usage.

' Third: The invention provides for standardization of bearing parts used in a large number of pumps, this element contributing faces results.

to simplification of manufacturing practice and the consequent reduction of manufacturing costs. 7

mon screw design, this view showinga pieterred form of the presentinvention. v

F ig. 2 is a fragmentary section taken on a .plane represented by the, line 22. 'Of

Fig; 1,.showing; thev simple. manner in which ,reheli passages areiprowded iii-the bearlng member,

Thet fo rm of rotary pump shown in the accompanying drawing is the well known screw impeller type, in which'the liquid being transt'erred is forced along parallelto.

the iinpeller drive shaft 1l, as. ndicated by arrows; 12," by the impact or, screw action of the;helical impellers lelwhich are equipped. with helically formed impeller .blades lo through which the driving of the liquid is accomplished. The shaft 11 which carries the. impellers, one of which impellers V isshown at. ,l l,: is supported in a ca'singlh which is niadegupcr" consecutlve co-oper- .ating sectionslfleach one of which casing sectionsdias. a centrally disposed bearing boss' supported by tionary vanes 19.

It has been previous practice in the, C0111 street-ion of pumps ot this character to use the surface of the shaft, such as ll to form a lbearing, in, conjunctionwith the inner,

" The jaction' ot (the, sleeve 21 lS 'lLOft'hI'OttlG surfaceaof the v bore through the ,bearing b sggs. j The dihler ence in pressuresatthe two ends of the bearing results in a c113v culation of liquid downward between the he arin contact with tl1es bearing surfaces and p a very rapxlwearmgaway lot thehear ng sur;

fairly closely upon f the shaft,, but is not,

--ho weve the, bearing for the shaft. The Q bearing. )r the shatt ll l5 formed from two elements, 1 a stationary. bushing or shelll25 titted within a counterhore 2G in the lower end of the bearing boss 18, anda rotating bearing meinber 2? which is fitte linto the bore 29 ot thezimpeller huh It will he noticed that the hearing memberQT is in the form, of a sleeye whichjpreterahly extends entirelylthrough thehub .30 of the impeller l t, and the projecting end 31'thereot is F 1g. 1 is an elevational sectional view through a portion of a rotary pump of comradially extending sta sp rit;ces as indicat ed by the arrowsQQ, w th the result that alorasive sub r eeeese r i it el q d a e: ough 1 The grinding action of the counterbored at 83 to a depth substantially equal to the distance that the bearing memberlprojeets r fro rn the impeller, The sleeve 21 projects into the counterbore 26 of the hearing boss 18 and stops at a point near m l the bottom 35 'of-zthe .counterhore' 33: in i the. end of therotating hearing member 27. In the project-ing end of. the bearinganember 27, on a plane substantially coincident witlwthe bottom of the counterbore 33 as indicatedby the line. 22 o1 Fig. 1, radial passages 88 are provided in the form of drilled, holes. vThe bearing member 27 and its supported impeller 14 are securely held on theshaft 11 in any suitable manner, such so as by th'e use got a' gihjkey 40 arranged fro it into suitably formed key-ways in; the shaft 11,. the n1elnberj 27,}anc;l 'thel hubfl30f -th impell l 7 The localized circulation ,of liquid, as -incheated by arrows 20, passes througlrthe space between'the shaftfll an'd the sleeve" 21, from the upper endf ll eof the. sleeve- 21, to its lowe'r rend, whichi lowerj end of said? sleeve isdirectly adjacent to the radialjpas-l we 7 sages: 38 which communicate between the; space surrounding the shaft 11; and the space between the boss 1S and the mpeller hub;

30,1which'spacein turn communicates with; the, liquid channels ofthe I pump. The '95 sleeve 21 directs the. localized circulation down substantially to the 'hottom jot the H count-e1hore 33, whereat'thisl localized flow passes directly and freely, outward through the passages 88, and the. tendencyifor the 1-00 entry of har ntul'subsjtances into the space between the bearing; facesis' inini 'nized.

down ithe flow of liquid constituting-1 the localized circulation and to direct t-hislios throttled llowby the upper end'oftheheap ing s'masfto prevent-the flow ofliquid'andf detritus from "entering the. space between the cee act e alf a s fac f lhe cleara i 1c'e between the shaft llfand the sleeve 21 is-relatively"small; By keepi. ing the; area of, the pace throu,. g"l1''which the f localized circulation j i mustflow U very snnilh anv eile'ctive throttling action .isjob -f tained. On reaching the space'at the lOWGlQllb' end oljthe sleeve 21' this flow may pass freely but through "the passages 38; therefore thereisno tendency toward a flow of liquid through. the space between the end 31" of the rotating hearing'imember. a.1.1'd"the shell 25, whichspace is hetween'th e bearing surfaces ot thebea'ring members 45 and'2rf" The throttle sleeve forms a dividing wall; and does not support the. snalt '11, but i in addition to forming dividing wall has the function otholding the flow oi"-the+ localized circulation of liquid to a minimum t amount. Vhen the throttle sleeve is first placed in operation, it mayfit' quite close on the shaft 11, but after the pump has been member 27 extends.

in operation for a short period of time, it will be found that the cutting action of the sand carried through the sleeve by the flow of liquid will cause a readjustment of the "sleeve and shaft diameters to provide the correct throttle opening which will permit the passage of sand particles carried in the liquid but will at-the same time keep the flow of liquid throttled down to a minimum.

Owing to the fact that the shaft llis'helcb centralized in the sleeve by the bearing formed by the members and 27, there is then no further enlargement of the throttling passage. p

Although the throttle sleeve 21 is shown as manufactured separately from the remainder of the casing structure, it, however, when in position of operation, becomes partof the casing structure and forms a dividing'wall between the shaft opening and the annular bearing recess into which the hollow rotating bearing portion 31 of the This bearing member 27 although of removable charact 1', becomes a part of the impeller 14 when pressed into the impeller hub 30, so that'the extending end 31 may then be considered as a tubular bearing extension of the impeller.

-Previously herein has been indicated the fact that the chief cause of wear in these pump bearings has been found in the entrance of abrasive materials into the space between the wearing surfaces; therefore, by

' minimizing or eliminating this entrance of foreign substances into the contacting bearing space, the'useful life of the bearing is greatly lengthened and an important step toward the perfectionof devices for pumping materials containing abrasive and other harmful substances is accomplished.

' l/Vith' a view to making this disclosure of the invention as brief and simple as possible, only one embodiment ofthe invention has been shown and described. The scope of the invention is not, however, limited by the simplicity of this showing, but may be embodied in other designs. and forms without departing from the spirit of the invention set forth in the: following claims.

We claim as our invention;

7 1. In an invention of the character de scribed. the combination of: ashaft; casing supporting said shaft, said casing having a shaft opening through which said shaft extends. and having an annular bearing recess coi'icen'tric with and separated from said shaft opening by an annular wall which extends substantially the full length of the.

outer wall of said recess; a bearing; member mounted on said'shaft having a tubular poi tion extending into said bearing recess and making bearing engagement with the outer wall of said recess, and having radial openings near the inner end of said tubular 28th day of 'May 1926.

portion ofa size permitting the localized circulation to, pass radially: outwardly through said radial openings from said shaft opening and past the end of said bearing recess,

2.- In an invention of the character described, the combination of: ashaft; casing supporting said shaft, said casing having a concentric shaft opening through which said shaft extends and having a concentric annular bearing'recess open at one end and separated from said shaft opening "by an annular wall extending substantially tolthe open end of said bearing recess; a bearing" freely from said shaft openingand pastthe end of said bearing recess. 1

3. In an invention of the character described, the ccmbination of: a shaft; casing supporting said shaft, said casing having, a bearing counterbore; an impeller; a bear-'- ing member having said impeller mounted on one end thereof, the other end'of said bearing member bemg counterbored to a depth substantially equivalent'to the exten sion of said bearing vmember from said impeller, and having radial openings near the bottom of its counterbore; and a tubular wall member extending from said 'caslng nto and substantially to thefbottom of said counterbore in said bearing member.

l. In an invention of theflcharacter de-' scribed, the combination of a shaft; an im-- peller; a sleeve for mounting said impeller on said shaft; and a key member engaging between saidflshaft, said sleeve and said impeller. p r 5. In an invention of the character described, the combination of: a shaft; casing 1 i 1 receiving said shaft,said"casing having an annular bearing recess concentric with and separated from the shaft opening by an annular wall of substantially the same extension asthe outer 'wall of said annular hearing recess; impeller. means having a tubular bearing portion extending'into said bearing recess, said tubular bearing surrounding said inner wall ofsaid bearing recess and having radial openings therein positioned at j j the end of said inner wall whereby the localized circulation will pass outwardly from the end of said inner wall through' said radial openings.

Si ned at Los. An eles, California D D i 7 'MAHLON n. LAYNE.

this I SAMUEL N. HALL." 

